One Heart Children's Eco-Village II

The One Heart Foundation is calling all architects interested in contributing to a life changing international design project.

The Australian based ‘for-purpose’ organisation has announced a design competition offering entrants the opportunity to design and masterplan an eco-village for abandoned and orphaned children in Kenya. 

The competition winner will be awarded AUD $2000 and the chance to partner with Melbourne based architectural firm ClarkeHopkinsClarke on a pro bono basis to deliver the project over the next two years. Second place will be awarded $1500, and third place $1000.

“We want to work with creative architecture students and recent graduates from around the world to develop a new village that is environmentally sustainable, low cost, simple to build and contextually responsive to the site, culture, climate and unique use,” says Dean Landy, founder of the One Heart Foundation.

“This is an opportunity to create the change you want to see in the world.” 

The challenge consists two parts: firstly, to masterplan a holistic children’s eco-village complete with the facilities outlined in the competition brief, and secondly, to create a unique design solution for each of these facilities.

The village will serve as a sister campus to the original One Heart Village, located in Turbo, Kenya, which is currently home to 75 children and a primary school with 180 students.

The second village, to be designed by the competition winner in collaboration with ClarkeHopkinsClarke, will provide homes to another 100 children, a primary school, secondary school, skills training centre and farm. It will be located in the Provence of Soy, Kakamega County – a rural area with a poverty rate of 53 per cent.

“It needs to be a nurturing environment – a place to raise individual families with children that have come from very difficult backgrounds of poverty and abuse,” Landy says.

An international panel including the Australian High Commissioner to Kenya John Feakes, Breathe Architecture founder Jeremy McLeod, ClarkeHopkinsClarke partners and Kenyan educationalists will judge the entries based on anonymous submissions.

The competition is open to all students, graduates and practicing architects, with both individuals and teams invited to enter.

“This is a rare opportunity for participants to showcase their design skills, work alongside a large scale Australian practice, see their project come to life, and most importantly, to help transform the lives of the most neglected children in the most disadvantaged regions of the world,” Landy says.

100 per cent of funds raised via competition entry fees will go towards constructing the village. The entry fee is $60 for individuals or $80 for teams.

To view the complete competition design brief, visit www.oneheart.foundation/design-competition

Registrations open worldwide from October 28 and close November 18 2016 via www.oneheartchildrensecovillage.eventbrite.com.au

The final design submission is due December 16, with winners announced in early 2017.

About One Heart Foundation

One Heart is a ‘for-purpose’ foundation based in Australia and working in Kenya. The organisation’s primary focus is to change the future of orphaned and abandoned children living in poverty in Kenya through a sustainable community development model, and in turn see whole communities transformed through education, leadership, empowerment and most importantly, love.

The organisation was founded in 2007 by Dean Landy, architect and partner at Melbourne based firm ClarkeHopkinsClarke.

www.oneheart.foundation